Guides to Neighborhoods in Honolulu

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Please enable javascript to use the site to its fullest potential. As a very rough alternative, though, here is a listing of the cities that are indexed, with links that will allow you to view them and their listings. I may try to add some filtering capability to the non-javascript version of the site eventually, but for now, I am focused primarily on the javascript form of the site.

Honolulu is the largest city in Hawaii, and serves as Hawaii's economic and cultural center. Nearly one million people live in the metropolitan area, and while it is well known as a tourist destination, it is also an excellent place to call home. The largest industry in Honolulu is tourism, which brings over $10 billion to the city annually. Honolulu also serves as an important economic hub between Asia and America due to its opportune spot in the Pacific. Many jobs in Honolulu, as a result, are in the import/export, military defense, and research industries.

Honolulu's temperature generally ranges between 65ºF and 95ºF, so the weather should appeal to residents who want a moderate climate. Honolulu gets a moderate amount of rain, although the amount of rain that an area receives is strictly dependent upon where in the city you are. Some areas, such as downtown and Waikiki, receive less rain than other areas.

Honolulu is safe when it comes to violent crime, but popular tourist spots such as Diamond Head and Sandy Beach attract property crime such as theft and vandalism. At night, less safe areas such as Chinatown are dangerous in which to walk around alone, but during the day, these areas are safe.

Residents looking for entertainment have many options available. Theatre-goers can see shows at the Diamond Head Theatre (also dubbed "The Broadway of the Pacific") or the Hawaii Theatre. In addition to Broadway performances and classical shows, residents can catch the traditional Hawaiian luaus scattered throughout the city — particularly downtown and in tourist places such as Sandy Beach.

Honolulu can be difficult to navigate for people unfamiliar with its layout. It is not laid out in a grid system like Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia are — the city layout is based on shorelines and other geographical features. As a result, the city's roads twist and turn more than in other cities. However, the city has a few major arterial roads which can serve as navigation points for people who need to determine how to get from one side of the city to another.

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PadMapper makes apartment hunting less awful, almost fun. It does this by plotting the apartments on a big map, and letting you filter for exactly what you want. There are also neat overlays to help you learn about the different areas.

My goal with PadMapper is to make apartment hunting into something people no longer dread. It shouldn't have to be harder than buying a car. You shouldn't have to deal with slimy people. You shouldn't have to make big Excel spreadsheets to keep track of what you've seen and what you think. Landlords should respond to your emails, and once you move in, you should be treated well. I'm going to help make it that way.

I was looking for a place with some friends in NYC in the summer of 2008, and it ended up taking us 6 months. This was our first time, so we got scammed more than once by brokers and shady landlords.

In between scams, I sifted through thousands of Craigslist listings, and it was getting to the point where I was losing hope. It was like wading through my spam folder trying to find real emails. I'd click and read each listing, only to find out that it was in a bad location, or it looked like a slum, or there was a toilet in the kitchen, or it was too "cozy" to fit a double bed.

So, I ended up writing what became the first version of PadMapper to do most of the sifting for me and generally make the hunt better. I've used it and the iPhone app in 3 apartment hunts since then, and it has found me a place quickly each time.

I hope it helps you and your friends find a great place to live. Good luck with your hunt!

Some tips:

The number of markers that can be displayed onscreen at once is limited to roughly 200. Zoom in or use the filters to make sure just the ones that fit your needs are displayed.

Great apartment deals can be gone within a matter of hours. Set your filters and map area, then choose the "Get Email Alerts for this Search" option to get alerts on new listings that match.

Keyword search is a powerful tool. Put a minus sign in front of a word to exclude listings that contain it. For example, "-female" should help filter out female-only sublets. Others: -cozy, -basement

If you zoom in far enough, a bar at the bottom of the screen will let you map out the nearby grocery stores, gyms, bars, restaurants, and more. Even comes with Yelp reviews!

If there's anything that confuses you, or you see any bugs, please email me at padmapper@gmail.com. Feedback really helps - user feedback is the reason PadMapper is what it is today.

If you'd like more information, check out the blog. Here's a text-based browsing alternative (though it's more cumbersome): Sitemap